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Springfield, Massachusetts The hall bills itself as "The World's Greatest Sports Museum." Considering the competition, that's confidence. Wherever it ranks among the great museums of sport, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame can claim a place as the most all-inclusive facility of its kind. It salutes every aspect of its sport - from the pros to the colleges, from the international stars to the past and present greats of the women's game, and from modern coaches to the players who starred for teams like the Harlem Globetrotters and New York Rens, and brought basketball the multi-cultural status it enjoys today. This Hall of Fame is unique, too, in that it stands in the city where the sport was unequivocally invented. Just a few miles away, the current campus of Springfield College was the site at which Dr. James Naismith crafted 13 basic rules for what he saw mostly as a wintertime exercise activity that could be played indoors. He staged the first game on Dec. 21, 1891, a starting point that is universally recognized within basketball, and which sets the sport apart from almost all others (including football and baseball), whose origins are more difficult to pinpoint, and subject to lively debate.  Light on the hill: The Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF. Fortunately for the tourist or basketball fan, the sport was invented in a city that is now easy to reach. Springfield stands at the virtual intersection of Interstates 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) and 91 and is less than two hours from Boston, and just under three hours from New York. Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Conn., is only 20 miles away. The Hall of Fame itself virtually abuts I-91, the area's major north-south highway, which begins at the Canadian border, and ends with a connection to superhighway Route 95 in New Haven, Conn. And, tempting and fun as it may be to compare sports museums, the building in Springfield is best enjoyed when viewed as its own entity, and not when placed in a Cooperstownian or Cantonian context. The three-tiered edifice is a fascinating, delicate balancing act of past and present, an acknowledgment that basketball fans (especially younger ones) tend not to view their game in historical terms, but in the modern, current context. The artifacts of history are there too. The second level is devoted to the memorabilia that remains the staple of most sports museums. The student of basketball history can tour exhibits that break the game down to its various elements. In one set of rooms, entitled "The Game,'' jerseys and equipment from the sport’s earliest days are on exhibit. A copy of Dr. Naismith's original, hand-written rules is also on display, complete with cross-outs and corrections. The actual first version still exists - it's been called the Magna Carta of basketball - and has occasionally been displayed at the Hall. This priceless artifact is owned and kept by the Naismith family. The second floor also includes "Victory Theater," where movies of various great moments and legendary stars of basketball are shown several times daily. Unique to this building, though, is that its most popular aspect is not necessarily the area in which the game is studied, but where it can actually be practiced and played. On the first level is "Center Court," where regulation hoops align one side and are also found at each end. The court itself is slightly short of regulation size, and was not built for the purpose of staging official games. Instead, it was earmarked as a venue to hold clinics and instructional sessions – and especially, to let visitors of all ages and skills simply "shoot hoops.'' So, bring your sneakers, but if you forget, you're still allowed to shoot baskets in your normal footwear.
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